Planning commission backs a package of Boise zoning tweaks including ADU expansion and incentive changes
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Summary
The Boise City Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend City Council approve ZOA25‑13, a zoning ordinance amendment that makes technical edits and six policy changes covering EV charging, bike parking, ADUs, housing incentives and an airport influence overlay tied to noise contours.
Deanna Dupuis, a city planner, told the Planning and Zoning Commission she and staff are proposing ZOA25‑13 to bundle technical corrections and six policy edits to Boise’s zoning code. The package would move an EV‑parking requirement into a voluntary sustainability incentive, introduce alternative compliance for bicycle parking and revert to roughly one bike parking space per multifamily unit, allow junior ADUs and permit two accessory units or tiny homes on wheels on single‑family lots, revise a menu of zoning incentives, and revise the airport influence overlay to be driven by noise contours.
The changes on incentives drew the most detailed scrutiny. Dupuis said staff and independent pro‑forma modeling showed that setting affordability targets at 60% of area median income (AMI) made projects infeasible without additional subsidy, so the proposed incentive now targets 80% AMI while lowering the unit threshold and expanding incentive options. "We saw that by capping rents at 60% AMI, there would be a significant gap that the incentives we were offering didn't offer enough to make up for that gap," Dupuis said, summarizing staff analysis. The draft also lengthens required affordability terms from 20 years to 50 years.
Neighborhood representatives offered mixed reactions. Eric Hagen, North End Neighborhood Association planning chair, said the North End supports many edits but questioned whether the changes will preserve long‑term affordable rentals, noting projects often convert to condos later. Katie Decker of the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association urged the commission not to codify a blanket streetscape waiver tied to ACHD or CCDC five‑year plans — "if a project penciled into either agency's plan gets delayed or canceled, the city of Boise will now have entirely lost its power to have these streetscape standards fulfilled by a developer," she testified.
Commissioners pressed staff on program details including how the director’s determinations would work for bike parking placement, how the airport DNL contours would be updated and the substance behind the AMI shift. Dupuis said internal guidelines would guide director decisions and that the airport is updating its master plan (expected in roughly 2026) but that the proposed DNL‑based approach provides predictability now by capping density inside the 60 DNL contour at 5 units per acre while allowing up to 25 units per acre outside that line.
After public testimony that ranged from social‑service groups urging more housing options to residents pressing for stronger safeguards, Commissioner Torres moved that the commission recommend approval to the City Council. The motion passed on a roll call vote.
The recommendation moves ZOA25‑13 to City Council, where the council will review the draft ordinance, the public record and any additional edits before making a final decision.
